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2 Kings 10

1 - Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, even the elders, and to those who brought up Ahab's sons, saying,
2 - "Now as soon as this letter comes to you, since your master's sons are with you, and you have chariots and horses, a fortified city also, and armor,
3 - Select the best and fittest of your master's sons, set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house."
4 - But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, "Behold, the two kings didn't stand before him! How then shall we stand?"
5 - He who was over the household, and he who was over the city, the elders also, and those who raised the children, sent to Jehu, saying, "We are your servants, and will do all that you ask us. We will not make any man king. You do that which is good in your eyes."
6 - Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, "If you are on my side, and if you will listen to my voice, take the heads of the men who are your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by tomorrow this time."Now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who brought them up.
7 - When the letter came to them, they took the king's sons and killed them, even seventy people, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Jezreel.
8 - A messenger came and told him, "They have brought the heads of the king's sons."He said, "Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning."
9 - In the morning, he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, "You are righteous. Behold, I conspired against my master and killed him, but who killed all these?
10 - Know now that nothing will fall to the earth of The LORD's word, which the LORD spoke concerning Ahab's house. For the LORD has done that which he spoke by his servant Elijah."
11 - So Jehu struck all that remained of Ahab's house in Jezreel, with all his great men, his familiar friends, and his priests, until he left him no one remaining.
12 - He arose and departed, and went to Samaria. As he was at the shearing house of the shepherds on the way,
13 - Jehu met with the brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, "Who are you?"They answered, "We are the brothers of Ahaziah. We are going down to greet the children of the king and the children of the queen."
14 - He said, "Take them alive!"They took them alive, and killed them at the pit of the shearing house, even forty-two men. He didn't leave any of them.
15 - When he had departed from there, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him. He greeted him, and said to him, "Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart?"Jehonadab answered, "It is.""If it is, give me your hand." He gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot.
16 - He said, "Come with me, and see my zeal for The LORD." So they made him ride in his chariot.
17 - When he came to Samaria, he struck all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to The LORD's word, which he spoke to Elijah.
18 - Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, "Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu will serve him much.
19 - Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all of his worshipers, and all of his priests. Let no one be absent; for I have a great sacrifice to Baal. Whoever is absent, he shall not live." But Jehu did deceptively, intending to destroy the worshipers of Baal.
20 - Jehu said, "Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal!"So they proclaimed it.
21 - Jehu sent through all Israel; and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that didn't come. They came into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was filled from one end to another.
22 - He said to him who kept the wardrobe, "Bring out robes for all the worshipers of Baal!"So he brought robes out to them.
23 - Jehu went with Jehonadab the son of Rechab into the house of Baal. Then he said to the worshipers of Baal, "Search, and see that none of the servants of the LORD are here with you, but only the worshipers of Baal."
24 - So they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had appointed for himself eighty men outside, and said, "If any of the men whom I bring into your hands escape, he who lets him go, his life shall be for the life of him."
25 - As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, "Go in and kill them! Let no one escape." So they struck them with the edge of the sword. The guard and the captains threw the bodies out, and went to the inner shrine of the house of Baal.
26 - They brought out the pillars that were in the house of Baal, and burned them.
27 - They broke down the pillar of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it a latrine, to this day.
28 - Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.
29 - However, Jehu didn't depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin, the golden calves that were in Bethel and that were in Dan.
30 - The LORD said to Jehu, "Because you have done well in executing that which is right in my eyes, and have done to Ahab's house according to all that was in my heart, your descendants shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation."
31 - But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of The LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He didn't depart from the sins of Jeroboam, with which he made Israel to sin.
32 - In those days the LORD began to cut away parts of Israel; and Hazael struck them in all the borders of Israel;
33 - from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan.
34 - Now the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
35 - Jehu slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria. Jehoahaz his son reigned in his place.
36 - The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.
2 Kings 10 Images and Notes

Brief Summary: We have in this chapter, I. A further account of Jehu's execution of his commission. He cut off, I. All Ahab's sons (v. 1-10). All Ahab's kindred (v. 11-14, v. 17). Ahab's idolatry: his zeal against this he took Jonadab to be witness to (v. 15, v. 16), summoned all the worshippers of Baal to attend (v. 18-23) and slew them all (v. 24, v. 25), and then abolished that idolatry (v. 26-28). II. A short account of the administration of his government. 1. The old idolatry of Israel, the worship of the calves, was retained (v. 29-31). This brought God's judgments upon them by Hazael, with which his reign concludes (v. 32-36).

Outline
Ahab's sons and Ahaziah's brethren put to death. (1-14)
Jehu destroys the worshippers of Baal. (15-28)
Jehu follows Jeroboam's sins. (29-36)

The Jordan
Painting of the Jordan by Chernetsov

ARCHAEOLOGY

The Black Obelisk

The Black Obelisk

The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III. Discovered at Calah now in the British Museum. The Obelisk stands nearly 7 feet tall and is about 2 feet thick. On each of the 4 sides there are 5 panels with carvings of various kings bringing tribute to king Shalmaneser III. The second panel from the top of the obelisk reveals king Jehu of Israel bowing at the feet of Shalmaneser of Assyria. This is the same Jehu who is mentioned in Scripture, and this carved relief is the only image in all history of one of the Hebrew kings. On the panel Shalmaneser is offering a libation to his god. The cuneiform text around the panel reads:

"The tribute of Jehu, son of Omri: I received from him silver, gold, a golden bowl, a golden vase with pointed bottom, golden tumblers, golden buckets, tin, a staff for a king [and] spears."


2 Kings 10:31 "But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart; for he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin."

The Jehu Panel
The Jehu Panel on the Black Obelisk

Wiriting Instruments
Painted sketch of ancient writing instruments

Important Topics for Bible Study
 

Quick Reference Map
Map of the Route of the Exodus
Map of the Kingdoms of David and Solomon (Click to Enlarge)

Ancient Customs
 

Ancient People
 

Geography
the wilderness
the mount of God
 

Quick Reference Maps

Israel and Judah - The kingdoms of Israel and Judah during the period of the kings can be seen on this map. After Solomon had died there was a civil war and 10 tribes took to the north and were called the northern kingdom of Israel, and every king was evil and forsook the LORD. The remaining 2 tribes stayed in the south and were called the southern kingdom of Judah, several of those kings trusted in the LORD.

Mesha's Kingdom - The Bible reveals that Mesha, the king of Moab rebelled against Jehoram the king of Israel (2 Kings 3:4-5). Jehoram requested the help of Judah and Jehoshaphat allied with him, he sought Elisha the prophet and victory was predicted, only because of the faith of Jehoshaphat. Mesha sought the god Chemosh and sacrificed his own son (2 Kings 3:27).

Israel and Syria Naaman the leper, captain of the Syrian army was healed by a miracle at the command of Elisha the prophet (2 Kings 5). At that time Aram (Syria) was a dominant fighting machine in the north under the leadership of Ben-Hadad, who was later murdered by Hazael (2 Kings 8:15).

Syria at Its Height - 2 Kings 10 reveals that Hazael of Syria smote all the coasts of Israel and the east Jordan territory expanding the kingdom of Damascus. Jehu knew that he would need to rely on a foreign power for help and he turned to Shalmanessar IV, King of Assyria.

The Kingdom of Jeroboam II - 2 Kings 14:25 indicates that Jeroboam II, fourth king from the line of Jehu, brought the northern kingdom of Israel to its greatest extent in the north. This was just after Syria was severely crushed by the Assyrians who had recently returned home to regroup.

Habor, the River of Gozan - In 2 Kings 17:6 the Bible says that the King of Assyria (Sargon II) conquered Samaria and took away the remaining inhabitants of Israel as prisoners to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gorzan, and in the cities of the Medes. The river of Gorzan is identified as the river Khabur, a tributary of the Euphrates river which flows into it from the north from southern Turkey.

The Cities of Samaria and the Surrounding Lands - The Bible records in second Kings 17:24 that the King of Assyria (Sargon II) brought colonists from many of the cities within the Assyrian Empire: Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed the inhabitants within the cities of Samaria to replace the children of Israel who would been taken into captivity.

The Assyrian Empire When Sennacherib Came to Power - Israel was destroyed, Judah was left and Hezekiah a man who sought the LORD had come to power in 720 BC. He offered tribute to Sennacherib but Jerusalem was was still a target for the Assyrian ruler.

The Assyrian Empire During the Reign of Esarhaddon - Esarhaddon marches into Egypt and extends the Assyrian Empire. 2 Kings 19

Necho Battles Josiah - Pharaoh Necho on his way to the Euphrates slays King Josiah at Megiddo. 2 Kings 23

The Babylonian, Mede and Persian Empires - Pharaoh Necho is defeated by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon who also destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC. Later the Mede and Persian Empires defeated Babylon and governed the world in the sixth century BC until Alexander the Great.

Map of the Kidron Valley and the City of David
Map of the Kidron Valley in the City of David (Click to Enlarge)

The Old Testament

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2 Kings Resources

Saul, Israel's First King
King David
King Solomon
The Divided Kingdom
The Northern Kingdom of Israel
The Southern Kingdom of Judah
The Assyrian Captivity
The Babylonian Captivity